Written by Spyros Moutafis

The Colonies of America declared their Independence in 1776, and after a revolutionary war, with the help of other nations, mainly of France, they gained their freedom. The war generated free states. Also generated a new nation which was founded on a body of ideas which were different from the ideas of the old world, these ideas influenced both contemporary Americans and the next generations that would come¹. Additionally, the declaration of Independence announced not only the creation of a new nation, but also a theory which has been a dynamic force throughout the world.² The revolution further promoted nationalism by giving people first widespread much-admired heroes³. People of all sections looked upon Washington as the concrete representation of American virtues: a person of deeds rather than words… The liberated United States would not have easily become a true nation without its call⁴.

There was the idea that the United States was an unique experiment in government and should be protected from the traditional ways of the European powers. Furthermore, during the first half of the 19^th century the United States changed dramatically. The territorial expansion brought more cities inside the state, the state reached the pacific, the economy was becoming capitalist. Even the expansion fastened the nation, the westward expansion brought more additional strains⁵. Which would appear later when Americans would be slaughtering on another. The expansion of the United States to the Pacific was a procedure involving many overlapping and various frontiers of cultures, people and even animals. The expansion was accompanied by a romantic idea and idealism that the increase of the American territory meant that democratic ideals and institutions spread⁶. In the mid of the 19^th century a form of expansionism appeared, <<Manifest Destiny>>, more specifically mean the expansion over a territory not clearly defined.⁷ For some people meant the expansion to the Pacific, for other the expansion to the north and for others the expansion to the hemisphere. The neighboring people would become part of the American Union and will have their self-government. The system of federalism would be established sidelining tyranny, which was the mainstream system of the Old world, especially in Europe. The Manifest Destiny was defined by freedom, federalism, religious freedom, equality for all. The expansion would bring republic to the natural boundaries, natural boundaries were differently perceived by people, natural boundaries at the beginning were the Mississippi, but later for others became the whole hemisphere⁸. The mission for Americans was to regenerate people. The expansion brought them as far as Missouri and lowa, also Americans understood their destined objective⁹. The land mass should be theirs, theirs for exploitation, theirs for land opportunity and more importantly a showcase to display the virtues of democratic institutions, living the proof that Americans are the God’s chosen people¹⁰. In other words, the purpose of the newborn American nation was to impart the ideas of democracy, of freedom and self-governance to the other nations, which at this time were under the rule of a king or a feudal and their people without political rights. Americans were thinking that their social and economic system should spread across the world, indicating to its abroad ownership of land, individualism, free economy¹¹. Texas is a perfect example of how Manifest Destiny works. Due to the American occupation its resources, were exploited and a state created.¹² All in all, the ideology of manifest destiny brought American cities into fight with Mexicans in Texas, New Mexico and California.¹³ Moreover, the occupation of new lands arise again the conflict over Slavery and Union. Against expectation the biggest instability from the expansion happened in the established American society, as the Union struggled to incorporate territories, the North and South had a debate about slavery or not in the new lands¹⁴. The expansion brought this issue, which characterized the early American society. The issue of slavery divided the states. The North and South were driven to a deadly war, which the North won. But the national identity of Americans would not have been shaped without the solution of this issue. The coming civil war will solve this debate. It is evident that the expansion triggered a debate vital for both the future and the identity of the American society and nation. Another result of the expansion is the division of American people about it. Although many Americans believed in something like the <<Manifest Destiny>>, not all Americans supported the expansion. This division can be seen one century later, when the American society was divided about the complicity in Vietnam.

The Manifest Destiny influenced American society, but the motive that influenced significantly American society was the sense of the mission. The national soul was expressed more by the mission than the Manifest Destiny¹⁵. The mission was another idealistic perception of the Americans. It was the commitment to the values of American civilization. Expansionism was restricted by the mission. As Albert Gallatin argues in his articles <<Your mission is to improve the state of the world, to be the ‘’model republic’’, to show that men are capable of governing themselves…>>¹⁶ The sense that Americans have their mission appears gradually in the American history. In the 19^th century was to create a new republic that would be different from the tyranny of the old Empires and Kingdoms. In the 20^th century the objective was to protect the democracy in Europe. The United States of America was in some respects responsible for saving democracy in Europe. They had to act and not stay passive. After the first world war president Wilson took the lead to create the League of Nations, the precursory of the Organization of United Nations, in order to help the other nations, live in peace and do not have catastrophic wars. The most of American people supported the League of Nations. Moreover, U.S.A helped European states after the two world wars. Worth mentioning that the strategy of the U.S.A for the 19^th century was that will not interfere in the affairs of the European continent, but also declared that the west hemisphere belongs to theirs sphere of influence. This was President Wilson’s doctrine. But the idealism of the states made them interfere In Europe for the sake of democracy and the freedom of people.

Finally, the American Nation as a modern nation, followed a similar road, such as other modern nations. After its political emancipation, struggled to find its identity and its place in the world. The expansion to all over the continental gave it the father land and simultaneously it shaped its political system. A real national identity was a century and a half in the forming, and even then, it remained incomplete. Certainly, it was – and is- ongoing.¹⁷ Many Nations not long after their political emancipation had a civil war. The case of Americans is a suitable example of this. The civil war occurred in some ways because of the expansion, which brought the issue about slavery and the disagreement of different perceptions triggered a bloody civil war. The expansion without ideology could not succeed. The ideology was that it is obligatory for Americans to spread their political system and their values across the continent because they are, like Jews, God’s chosen. This idea gave them the rightful belief to expand their borders. This idea can be seen in both World Wars, when they had not to spread democracy, but to protect it. This belief can be seen in the Cold War era, when every time they had to start a new war in order to answer to Soviet Union’s aggressiveness, called on that they protect and fight for peace, human rights and democracy. In addition, this was called off by United States, before their invention to Iraq, when they supported that there war weapons of massive destruction, and they had to invade in order to defeat Saddam Hussein, who was also a dictator. So, it is evident that the expansion of the early American Republic gave them their national purpose, to expand their values and their democracy to the others. This is the bequest of the expansion of the early years of the democracy, the belief that they have a mission and that makes them unique. These beliefs are being used by American government till today.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Davidson West James, <<Nations of Nations, A Narrative History of the American Republic>>,McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2001

Garraty A. John, <<A Short History of the American Nation>>, Harper Collins Publishers, 1989

Jones A. Maldwyn, <<The Limits of Liberty, American history 1607-1922>>, Oxford University Press, 2013,

Merk Frederick,<< Manifest Destiny and Mission in American History>>, Alfred A. Knopf: New York,1963

Morison Samuel Eliot, <<A concise History of the American republic>>, New York Oxford University Press, 1983